


The Stone

by corvidae9



Series: Switchverse [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: First in a series of Switchverse follow-ups, Gen, and therefore unrepentantly AU.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-08
Updated: 2006-10-08
Packaged: 2018-10-18 16:50:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10621074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidae9/pseuds/corvidae9
Summary: A handful of firsties learn early lessons in Interhouse Unity thanks to a mess involving an impossibly old alchemist and a big, slobbery dog with too many heads.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for and to the specifications of The Kid, who was also the test audience and cheering section, as was [](http://juice817.livejournal.com/profile)[juice817](http://juice817.livejournal.com/), who stroked my ego in that she was always totally stoked to be the first to read each section and was willing to ~~be pressed into service for a beta job~~ reality check it as a whole when I finally finished it.

The two most notorious Hufflepuff firsties in a century (or more) came barrelling into the library, out of breath and looking over their shoulders. Madam Pince shot them a look comprised of pure venom and they slowed to a fast walk, the slightly shorter Harry offering a sheepish smile and a weak, apologetic wave. It didn't help. Her unforgiving gaze followed them all the way into the stacks.

They rounded the second set of shelves and broke into a trot again until they reached the study carrels at the very back of the library, ducking behind one and half-perching on the same chair.

"I think we lost them," huffed Harry.

Draco popped his head around the side divider and murmured, "We'll never lose them. Diggory is inexorable. He's not human."

"We'll never figure out what McGonagall's up to in the third floor corridor if we don't figure out how to convince him you don't need his bloody 're-educational tactics'."

"All we have to go on is that oaf's mention of 'Nicolas Flamel', anyway," said Draco, pointing toward the nearby Reference section. "Maybe we can construct a barricade with some of those bigger ones..."

"Hagrid's not an oaf, Malfoy," muttered Harry in a tone that suggested it had been overused as of late. "He's the one who rescued me from the Dursley's, remember?"

"Fine. An heroic oaf, but an oaf nonetheless."

"If it wasn--"

A small, rounded face surrounded by a rather large nimbus of bushy hair popped up from the other side of the divider. "Did you say Nicolas Flamel?" she asked, even as a hand followed, tugging on the sleeve of her jumper followed by a quiet mumble.

"F-forget them, Hermione."

Harry and Draco exchanged a look. Granger was a Slytherin and therefore not to be trusted, but she knew pretty much everything there was to know. Ever. Sort of annoying, really.

"Yeah," Harry said first. "Know who he is?"

###

"It's impossible, Pansy," sighed Ron, tossing his wand onto the desktop and sinking his chin onto his hand.

Thwapping the back of his head, Pansy furrowed her brow at him. "Nothing is impossible, dullard. Except for a tasteful fashion trend that involves pink and green at once." The last bit was muttered through a shudder, and once done, she immediately tapped her fingernail to her teeth in her favorite 'thinking' gesture. "Focus. We've already covered Charms more challenging than this; I know you can do it. Use all that chess-plotting skill."

" _Strategy_ ," frowned Ron. "And how's that supposed to help with Transfiguration?"

Pansy cocked her head, eyebrows raised. "Well. Chess involves moving the little bits around from one end to the other, with a clear goal, right?"

"Capturing the queen, yeah."

"Alright. And you have to get there without being walloped, so you have to think ahead."

"Yes," said Ron impatiently. "So?"

"So," said Pansy, looking more and more enthused. "Imagine what it takes to move from one form to another. Imagine the steps that are involved in making the rat into a goblet. How do you get from rodentia to stemware without ending with a furry cup?"

Ron stared as though Pansy had simultaneously spouted both a great truth and a great heresy.

"Weasley?" said Pansy, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "I didn't damage you, did I?"

Shoving her hand away from his face, Ron murmured, "Yeah, yeah. I mean, no. Just-- sit there."

He set Scabbers on the battered desktop of the library carrel and quickly thought through the steps of the necessary conversion, tapped the fat rat with his wand and clearly enunciated, " _Veriverto_."

The squealing rat became a perfect silver goblet.

Ron's face split with glee and Pansy threw her arms around him impulsively. "See? You don't really belong with the stupid Gryffindors at all! Do it again!"

Forgetting to be offended for once, Ron gathered his thoughts and spelled the goblet back to a rat to the sounds of Pansy's quiet applause.

"Reckon I might able to pull off this Ravenclaw b--"

Just then, two Hufflepuffs ran by. The darker-haired boy bumped into their table and a confused Scabbers took off. Ron swore even as the boy murmured a hasty, "Sorry," as they ran off.

"Sodding Potter. If he's so great, why's he in Hufflepuff?" Ron muttered. Sure, he'd seemed a decent enough bloke on the train, but he'd spent the last few months attached to Malfoy at the hip, and no one decent did that, did they?

Pansy's eyes lingered on Draco's retreating form. How bad could Hufflepuff be, if her oldest friend had been Sorted in? Her eyes narrowed as Draco took hold of Potter's jumper and made a decision as to which corner to turn. Bad enough that he'd forgotten she existed, is what. Except for that troll incident, he'd said perhaps two words to her all term.

Ron didn't miss the look on Pansy's face. He stood up and began walking in the direction the two boys had gone. "That's it."

"Weasley? No! Stop! You'll lose points for Ravenclaw!" Pansy hissed to no avail. She should let Weasley give them a proper comeuppance; it would serve them right, but odds were he'd be caught and take her down with him. Making a decision, she popped to her feet and hurried to catch up with him. One aisle down, she caught sight of his weird, fat rat busy scurrying down a shelf, grabbed it in passing with a moue of distaste and held it up as she followed. "Weasley! Look! Come back! I found your rat!"

###

"Nicolas Flamel. Born sometime around 1326, still alive to this day. He's an alchemist, famous for having created the only known Philosopher's Stone in existence, among other things. He's made startling advances in the fields of both Arithmancy and Potions, as well. Rather brilliant. I'm thinking of focusing my second-term project on him. I read all about him in the one hundred and twenty-third Edition of _Most Notable Wizards and Witches_. I understand the Headmaster's done some work with him- can you imagine if he could arrange a meeting?!"

Harry and Draco both blinked at Hermione for a long moment before speaking.

"Second-term project?" asked Draco, eyebrow shooting up as Harry's question overran his.

"What's a Philosopher's Stone?"

Hermione rolled her eyes dramatically, turning first to Draco and then Harry as she answered them respectively. "Yes, it's a personal enrichment project. The Philosopher's Stone can give the bearer unlimited gold and immortality. It's incredibly powerful, and after the first was made, Flamel vowed never to make another. He keeps the location of the first secret in order to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. It's been argued that no one has actually judged _his_ not to be the wrong ones, but since the fruits of his labor have been beneficial to the Wizarding world, no one official goes out of their way to take it." She shrugged. "You'd think it'd be an apt reward for that sort of brilliance, at any rate."

"Small enough to maybe fit in a package this size?" asked Harry, moving his hands about six inches apart to indicate the package he'd seen Hagrid take from the vault.

"I suppose," said Hermione, tilting her head. "I've never seen it, obviously, but it couldn't be much larger than that. With all the condensation and distillation of the ingredients that go into it, the amount of raw material and magic required increases exponentially in relation to the size of the finished product."

Harry caught little of what she'd said, but what he did catch told him that was a 'yes'. He exchanged a significant look with Malfoy. "That's not good."

"Why am I not surprised?" grumbled Draco. "Guess the unicorns aren't enough."

Having watched the exchange carefully, Neville finally chose to join the conversation. "Unicorns? Professor Sprout said--"

"You think you're so great, don't you?"

All four students turned to see an angry, red-faced Ron Weasley stomping up to them, Pansy just behind and clutching his rat. "Everyone else should just shove out of the way for the great Harry Potter, right?"

"Um, no. Not really," Harry said, confused yet standing his ground as Ron advanced.

"Newsflash, Weasley," said Draco, moving up behind Harry to reach around his shoulder and push his fringe up from his forehead and expose his scar. "They should."

Harry furrowed his brow and slapped Draco's hand away even as Ron took another menacing step ranting, "I get it. Just because you saved Pansy from the troll--"

"Which was my idea!" Draco piped up, cut off as Harry reached back, grabbed him by the shirt and shook him with a hissed 'shh'.

"--and my brother won't stop talking about the great dragon whose life you 'likely saved'--"

"Dragon?" asked Neville, as Pansy's eyes locked on the blond Hufflepuff.

"The troll was _your_ idea, Draco?"

Draco shrugged, arching a nonchalant eyebrow. "Couldn't very well let him eat you. We played in the same sandbox for god's sake." He chose to disregard the fact that it had been his idea to tell a professor and it was Harry who had insisted there was no time if they wanted to save his friend. Fortunately Harry was otherwise occupied staring in confusion at Ron, and didn't choose to correct him.

"In fact, I didn't think you were all that bad when I met you on the train and you shared all those sweets, but now...!" Ron trailed off, trying to remember what had made him so bloody angry.

Typically, Hermione raised her hand and beat him to it. "What exactly is the problem here, then?"

Pansy thwapped the back of Ron's head again. "Nothing. We were just going. He's had a hard day what with all the thinking and learning. Have lunch with me tomorrow, Draco?"

"Shut up, Pansy," growled Ron. "That git's not sitting with us." Under his breath, he added, "He's worse than Potter."

"And I'm terrible, apparently," deadpanned Harry, earning a snicker from both Draco and Neville, who then looked startled to agree with one another.

The heavy library doors slammed and they all heard Madam Pince hiss loudly, "Mister Diggory! No running in the library!"

Harry and Draco's eyes widened, both looking left and right for a bolt hole.

"He cannot find us," muttered Harry, inspecting the underside of the desk. "Not now. We have to tell Dumbledore about the Stone."

Draco pointed at Hermione. "You, know-it-all-- is there another way out of the library?"

The Slytherins and Ravenclaws regarded the Hufflepuffs as one might carefully watch a dotty aunt prone to angry outbursts, while Hermione tilted her head again. "No. Why would there be?"

"Because Cedric Diggory is about to find us and put us to work being re-educated," hissed Harry. "And we are busy trying to save the bloody world."

Ron snorted. "Oh, that's rich."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, clearly plotting. "If you hide under the desk, I can hit each of you with a Disillusionment charm and we'll stack some books against the legs of the table just in case."

"You can cast a Disillusionment charm?" Both Ron and Pansy asked, and it was Neville's turn to be confused as he furrowed his brow at Hermione.

Draco was already levitating a stack of large books over to the side of the table, but Harry cocked his head. "Why are you helping us?"

"Because you're going to tell me afterward both how you defeated the troll and what you're up to now," Hermione said. "Or else I'll tell Diggory where to find you."

Neville continued to frown at Hermione, who had crossed her arms and was looking too smug for her own good, and from a distance, Harry could hear, "Here, ickle firsties... know you're in here..."

"Fine," scowled Harry, though clearly conflicted, his eyes darting toward the sound of Diggory's voice and back. "Fine. Done. Cast the charms."

"And why shouldn't _I_ tell?" asked Ron as Hermione Disillusioned Harry and moved to proceed with Draco.  
  
"Because I'm asking nicely," Pansy said, shoving Scabbers into Ron's hands. "Please."

An oddly shimmering Draco shoved Harry under the desk and dove in behind him just as the whispering turned the corner. Pansy moved forward to take a book off of the desktop and lean against the side divider, opening it to a random page. "Show me, Granger. I don't see anywhere it says that a mugwort infusion works on unsightly blemishes like yours."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "If it worked on your warts, Parkinson, it should work on anything."

Diggory walked past them with a nod, directing his question to Ron, as he actually knew him second-hand by way of Fred and George. "Oi. Seen Potter and Malfoy pass through here?"

Pansy glared behind Diggory's back and Ron shrugged and didn't quite meet Diggory's eyes as he answered. He pointed vaguely in the direction of the doors. "Err. Saw them run past on the way in. Heard 'em talking about the Owlery."

"Thanks, mate," said Diggory, clapping Ron on the shoulder and hurrying away.

"Thank you," said Pansy, her smile fading as Ron walked away with a grunt and a disgusted hand wave.

Hermione bent to peer under the desk. "You can come out now." Both Harry and Draco crawled out and put an end to the shimmery Disillusionment charms.

"Brilliant. Thanks, Granger," said Harry. "And Parkinson, you too. Thanks."

Draco took Pansy's hand and kissed the back of it. "Lunch tomorrow, yes. Anywhere. Everywhere. Anything you want... that I can get you from inside the castle."

"Yes, well. That's lovely," said Hermione, in a no-nonsense tone. "Tell us about the troll and what the devil you're up to."

Ever the quiet observer, Neville pulled his chair around and sat backwards, murmuring, "Start with the unicorns."

Draco dropped Pansy's hand and exchanged yet another look with Harry. Harry shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. "Alright. Suppose I should start with--"

He stopped as Ron rounded the corner and dropped both his and Pansy's bookbags and sat heavily on the ground next to them. "Didn't miss the story, did I?"

###

Harry made them swear not to repeat any of it before launching into a relatively quick retelling of the events of the past few months. Draco leaned casually on the desk just behind and to the right of Harry, for the most part letting him tell the story and only interjecting to inflate details and increase dramatic tension.

As he finished, Neville was still frowning. He sat up and stared as he formed an even more succinct summary of Harry's narrative. "You're saying that Y-you Know Who didn't actually die when he tried to kill you, and is using some sort of half-body to k-kill unicorns and drink their blood to stay alive, and a three-headed dog is the only thing that's standing b-between him and something that might bring him permanently back?"

"...And we killed a troll," added Draco after a pause, only half-joking.

"Dad's always saying that he's just waiting for the Death Eaters to resurface under new management," mumbled Ron. "Maybe they were just hoping the old management would come back."

Draco shot a look at Pansy, who was shifting from foot to foot, knowing that she was thinking roughly the same thing he had at first. He didn't know if his father had been lying about being under the Imperius Curse, but he knew that his father had borne the Mark. If You Know Who managed to come back, there was no telling what could happen. Draco didn't want to know.

"The Philosopher's Stone, here in the castle..." said Hermione, almost reverently. "It makes sense-- it's the safest place for it. Still... it would be so wonderful to see it... study it..."

Shaking his head, Harry stood straighter. "Nuh-uh, that's why we've got to go. We've got to get Dumbledore to move it before it's too late."

###

Harry and Draco stood just outside of Professor Sprout's office just a little while later, her irritated (and uncharacteristically loud) instruction to 'get outside, bloody well have fun and forget about the well-guarded Stone' still ringing in their ears.

"I can't believe Dumbledore's 'suddenly been called away'," Harry murmured numbly.

Draco frowned and muttered back, "Leaving no one to guard the stone."

After a very short silence, Harry said, "Whatever McGonagall's up to, she'll be able to pull it off easily, now."

"And she knows how to get past Fluffy," said Draco, adding under his breath, "bloody stupid name for that sort of a beast."

"Which means Voldemort could have the stone in hand by sundown."

"Potter," growled Draco. "Would you please stop calling the very scary things by name?"

Harry disregarded him entirely, lifting his chin. "We'll have to get to it before McGonagall or whoever gets it first."

"Oh that's just... unfunny," Draco grimaced. "Why couldn't Professor Sprout have just believed us to begin with?"

"...Because that would have been too easy?" Harry said with what was almost a smile.

"Yeah. That's about right."

There was another pause as both boys fidgeted. Draco kicked at a lost bit of parchment and Harry fussed with a loose button on his robe. Harry finally sighed and began walking in the direction of the third floor corridor.

Draco stooped and picked up the parchment as he fell in step with Harry. "I should at least write a note to my mother in case that dog thing decides that I'd make a good chew toy."

Harry elbowed him with an amused eye roll, "No one's going to chew on you, Malfoy."

"You had better hope not. My family would blame you just as much as they would Dumbledore," said Draco as he balled up the parchment. "You know they would."

"I live in fear of your family," Harry deadpanned. "Seriously."

Draco launched the parchment directly at the side of Harry's head, convinced he had Diggory to thank for his improving aim. "You should."

###

Once in the corridor and just outside of Fluffy's door, Draco peered one last time around the corner as Harry pressed his ear to the door and said, "Nothing."

"Here neither," said Draco. "Unlock it, let's go."

" _Alohamora_ ," whispered Harry, tapping the lock so that it came unlatched with an audible 'click'. Harry pulled the door open. "We're in--"

"--very serious trouble," finished Filch standing just inside the chamber as Mrs. Norris wound around his ankles.

Harry and Draco stared incredulously into Fluffy's room, only very partially blocked by the lanky caretaker. The giant, murderous, vaguely canine thing was passed out in three puddles of thick drool, the lilting strains of a harp floating just beyond.

"Expelled for certain for just being here, not to mention ensorcelling the beast and leaving it that way. Probably trying to steal the... the... Thing, too" Filch said with a disgusted shake of his head, indicating the way down the corridor closest his office. "Move along."

"But we didn't--"

"You can't just leave it asleep!" shouted Harry, pointing past Filch.

Filch cast a nervous glance at the harp playing on its own. "Professor McGonagall will be along shortly to deal with it."

"Useless squib!" Draco spat, indignant. "Can't you see? She's the one--"

"Come along, boys."

###

"Oh. God. My father is going to kill me," mumbled Draco, staring straight ahead at the torture diagrams tacked behind Filch's desk.

"Worse," muttered Harry. "Diggory is going to kill us."

Draco turned a disgusted look on Harry. "How exactly is that worse, Potter?"

"He lives upstairs from us, Malfoy. And he can kill _me_ too."

After a short silence, Draco blinked. "Oh. God. Diggory is going to kill us." He slumped into the hard seat and covered his eyes as Harry stood and inspected the door.

" _Alohamora!_ "

"As if that would work here, Potter!" huffed Draco as he heaved himself up.

"Shut up, git. Was worth a try," Harry mumbled as he yanked ineffectually at the door latch. "Don't see how Filch could work anything else."

"Alright," Draco frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe there's another way out." He made his way over to where Harry stood and pointed left. "You go that way. I'll go this way and we'll check all the way around the room."

Harry cocked his head with a crookedly bemused grin as Draco began inspecting shelves and books and dusty torture implements. "Not giving up, then?"

Expression dead serious, Draco turned to face Harry again. "Do you have any idea what might happen to my dad if V-V-- You Know Who comes back?"

"Err-- no?" said Harry, suddenly more worried and less amused by Draco's determination.

"Me neither," said Draco almost too quietly to be heard.

"You really don't know whether he was lying about being under the Imperius curse, do you?" asked Harry, as quietly respectful as he could manage.

Draco swallowed hard enough that Harry could hear him and set his jaw. A tiny shake of his head was the only forthcoming answer and all Harry needed to hear, so to speak. As if Harry didn't have enough reasons to keep Voldemort at bay, it was clear his best friend's family was at stake, too. His own voice tinged with anger, he murmured, "Ok," and returned to his side of the search.

###

At the other end of the room, Harry and Draco bumped into one another and each swore loudly.

"Nothing," Harry mumbled.

"Bloody hell," said Draco, kicking the wall. "He'll be back any minute, you know he will."

"Let's start at the door agai--"

Harry's suggestion was cut off by a loud grinding scrape that seemed to come from under Filch's desk. Both drew their wands and backed against the wall, shoulder to shoulder as a square of marbled stone came up and fell aside. A pair of identical ginger heads came up through the new opening. One twin held out a lazy, placating hand and smirked, "Oi. Don't shoot."

The other grinned brightly and said, "Someone in need of an extraction?"

Draco grimaced. "Huh?"

"Going to stand there and wait for Filch?" asked one twin.

"Or are you going to get down here and escape your likely well-deserved fate for a bit, hmm?" added the other, in the shared style of conversation that was both enviable and eerie.

Harry was already halfway to the passage as he turned an exasperated eye on Draco, who hadn't moved. "Come on!"

Shaking his head, Draco pointed. "It's a set-up. They've got no reason to help us. Me. They're _Weasleys_."

"Well-spotted!" said one twin without a hint of malice.

"But we're mercenaries today," said the other.

"Rogue Weasleys."

"I like it, George," said the twin that was presumably Fred.

"Sounds dangerous."

"Rogue. Weasleys," repeated Fred, nodding his head sagely.

"It--"

Pansy's head popped up between them. "Can we please go, Draco? Before I have to kill them or myself?"

"Pansy?!" Draco said as he ran up and knelt at the edge of the missing floor tile.

Harry followed, catching sight of Hermione, Neville and Ron in the hidden corridor. He didn't get the chance to ask the question that clearly begged as each twin caught a Hufflepuff and dragged them down into the corridor roughly, one steadying them while the other pulled the trick tile shut and dusted off his hands.

With the barest hint of a smirk, Hermione's eyes narrowed as she propped her hands on her hips and answered it anyway. "I really wanted to see that stone, Potter."

###

Fred and George shoved them all out of the passageway at the third floor while they remained inside. "We had nothing to do with this."

"Or maybe we did."

"But good luck proving it."

"Either way, we're off to keep Filch busy and off your back for a while."

"Or bribe Peeves to."

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," they grinned as the non-descript portrait they'd all stepped out of shut between the group of firsties and themselves. Their voices were muffled as they added through the wall, "and if you do, take notes."

Draco turned to Pansy, whose arm was threaded through his. "You don't have to do this. We already owe you for having to deal with those two ruffians."

Sparing a glare for Draco, Harry spoke, making it clear he was talking to everyone. "None of you have to do this. We don't know what's down there."

Pansy shrugged. "You need someone who can play to keep this... _thing_ busy." It was a thin excuse, but Harry wasn't willing to question it.

Hermione merely stood taller. "You already know why I'm here."

"I'm with her," Neville said, though he immediately turned a bright pink and backpedalled. "That is. I'm not leaving her alone with the lot of you."

That only left Ron, who scratched the back of his neck uncertainly. "I, yeah. Was going to use Pansy as an excuse, too, see. But the truth is, I can't just let You Know Who come back when I could do something about it. It's what my dad would want me to do." His nose twitched and he suddenly looked pained. "Mum's going to have kittens, though."

A snicker ran through the assembled firsties even as Harry cocked his head and regarded the younger Weasley-- Ron-- with renewed interest. "Alright," he said after a moment as he sidled up to the door. "Guess we ought to try this again. Pansy. You go in straight for the harp and make sure it doesn't stop-- you'll be safe as long as it's playing, alright? The rest of us will go through the trap door and... then make it up as we go along."

Everyone more or less nodded with dubious agreement, standing on alert as Harry murmured the unlocking charm and pulled the door open. The marked absence of angelic music was suddenly punctuated by vicious snarling and Harry slammed the door shut again.

"Brilliant," said Draco, throwing a hand up. "Now what?"

"Wait, wait--" said Ron, "I know." He held a hand out to Pansy. "Pansy, c'mere." She looked at him as though he was mad, casting a panicked glance at Draco.

"What? Why?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Trust me, alright?"

Pansy took a breath and a step forward, taking his hand and squeezing it hard. "If you get me killed, I'll never forgive you. He'll have to kill you in retalliation, too," she said, pointing at Draco, now cheerfully nodding his head in agreement.

Drawing his wand, Ron nodded to Harry. "Open it again. Pansy, when I hand you the harp, get back and start playing. Everyone else-- just get back until it passes out."

Harry nodded and ignored Draco's dubious muttering as he unlocked the door, but stayed close enough to slam it shut if need be. Ron shouted, " _Accio harp_!" and the thankfully not-full-sized instrument flew past Fluffy's three sets of snapping jaws and into his hands. He shoved it at Pansy and shouted, "Play! Play!"

Wide-eyed, Pansy set her fingers to the strings and played a dissonant chord, followed by a more recognizable one, and the giant dog's snapping and growling began to calm. She continued to play with a shuddery breath as Fluffy walked in a circle and flopped to the ground, its eyes shutting one by one... by one by one by one by one.

Ron slumped back against the wall and didn't notice Hermione staring until she spoke.

"You've worked out Summoning Charms?"

Trying and failing to exchange a knowing glance with Pansy (who would have been more than glad to oblige if she hadn't been staring at the giant, snoring Fluffy and concentrating on playing the small harp), Ron settled for a smug grin.

"Ravenclaw. Keep up."

###

The five firsties not engaged in keeping the slobbering mutt safely asleep shoved one of its massive paws off the trapdoor and yanked it open. They peered into the darkness, relatively unhurried since Fluffy was sleeping soundly. Neville's nose twitched and he muttered, "Smells like... plant material." He whispered, " _Lumos_ ," and held his lit wand lower into the chamber. A tendril of some kind shot up and made a grab for him, but missed entirely as Harry fisted his hand in the back of Neville's shirt and yanked him backward and out of the way.

"Thanks," said Neville, dusting himself off as he stood. "It's err-- Devil's Snare."

"Hold on-- I remember this," said Hermione as she tilted her head.

"It can kill you by strangulation if you're not perfectly calm," Neville went on, with a pointed glance around at the rest of them. "Which means the only way we're getting past it is sunlight."

Hermione nodded, businesslike, and knelt near the trapdoor. "Shield your eyes. _Lumos Solem_!"

A bright flash of light and a high-pitched shriek filled the lower chamber and Fluffy shifted, looking as though he was about to roll over. Pansy let loose a near-whine through a bitten lip and redoubled her efforts, growling, "Well go on! I don't fancy blisters on my fingers for no good reason."

Harry peered in through the trapdoor and saw nothing but withered vegetation and stone floor. He cast a Cushioning Charm ahead of him and then dropped down onto it, Draco close behind. As the rest of the firsties hopped through, Harry murmured to Draco under his breath, "They don't seem all that bad."

"They are," Draco sulked. "Just wait."

Elbowing him none too subtly, Harry cocked his head toward the large door facing them. "I'll cover it."

With an unconvinced set to his mouth, Draco stepped up and tugged the door handle experimentally, finding that it did not appear to be locked. Braced for trouble, Harry held his wand on it, as did Ron who joined him a moment later. Draco nodded and opened the door, but still, nothing happened. The soft fluttering of what sounded like the Owlery drifted from the darkened room, and Harry took a step forward.

The lights began to come up and Ron furrowed his brow as he entered behind Harry, who was already inspecting a broom that had been set to hover in the middle of the narrow room. "Birds?"

Draco tilted his head, following Ron and in turn trailing Hermione and Neville. One of the winged creatures fluttered past his head and ruffled his hair, and he shied back violently, brushing frantically at it. "Get it off!"

Harry turned on his heel but Hermione had already caught it and was inspecting it thoroughly as Draco shot it a withering glare and brushed back his hair. "Keys," she declared as she glanced up toward the ceiling of the room that seemed to be teeming with the little things. "One of which, I'm assuming, we'll need to go on."

From where he was inspecting the door they had not come through, Neville murmured, "An old-fashioned one. We've got a fair few of these at home."

"There!" Hermione said as she pointed toward a large, brass key flying more crookedly than the rest, one wing looking a little bent.

Both Harry and Draco's hands hovered over the broom and they frowned at one another.

"I can get it," said Draco.

"So can I," Harry said with the smallest smirk. "probably faster too."

"You wish. How do you know that it's safe?" Draco insisted.

"Nuh-uh. I _know_." Harry shrugged. "None of this is. But I need that key, and this is how to get it."

"You're just lucky." Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine. Then let me get the bloody thing."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be here," Harry said, forgoing the trash talk. "That makes me responsible."

"Exactly," Draco poked him hard on the shoulder, peering hard and willing him to understand. "And if something happens to you between here and the stone, git, we're all out of luck." With that, his hand closed on the broom and he slung his leg over it, kicking away from the ground before Harry could protest further. The bird keys began pelting Draco, his swearing echoing Harry's on the ground, and he executed a neat roll in the direction of the broken-winged key. As he swerved through the rafters and around a support, Draco's fingers curled around the key, setting off a furor in the other pursuing keys and pushing him to fly the ancient broom even harder.

Draco set his jaw and ignored the squeal as he ripped the wings from the key, then dove in Harry's general direction, shouted, "Heads up!" and threw the key at him. Harry snatched it out of the air easily as Draco banked away, relieved as the keys continued to follow him. He led them on another circuit of the rafters as everyone else exited the room, rolled again and then made to fly a straight shot through the open door.

A chorus of adolescent screams accompanied the exodus from the key room as Draco barrelled through the door. Ron and Harry slammed it shut behind him, a hail of sharp thwacking sounds following as the closest of the cloud of menacing keys on Draco's trail slammed into the thick wood sharp ends first and stuck. The broom lost altitude the moment he crossed the threshold, and Draco ended up crashing to the flagstones, rolling arse over teakettle and eventually landing flat on his back, with a disgruntled and a little disjointed-sounding, "Ouch. Bloody, buggering--"

Harry ran over and offered a hand up, alarmed. "Alright?"

Taking it and pulling up to his feet, Draco rubbed his side exaggeratedly. "Should definitely have let you do it."

Cracking a wide grin, Harry shoved him. "Would definitely have done it better."

Unsuccessfully suppressing a laugh, Draco flashed a rude gesture. "Not bloody likely. That was brilliant. _I'm_ bloody brilliant."

"Boys...?" said Hermione somewhere in the room, though Harry and Draco were still busy shoving one another half-heartedly. "Excuse me!"

An ominous and rather solid-sounding 'thud' hailed the lights and Ron's eyes lit with glee at the sight of giant chessmen taking their places.

" _Wicked_."

###

One eye cracked open and all Harry could see was white and then the blurred gray of the castle walls. He panicked and tried to sit, but the room was spinning too severely, and all he could do was fall back against the pillows.

Pillows?

"Finally awake?"

Harry turned toward the familiar voice of his best friend and blinked-- both eyes, this time. "Hi?"

Draco rolled his eyes as he set his book aside. "Passed out for four days and all you can say is 'hi'? Don't have some sort of amnesia do you? You're dim enough as it is."

"Piss off," Harry murmured. "Everyone knows _you're_ the dullard around here."

Uncurling from the guest chair that seemed larger and more plush than the others in the infirmary, Draco stood and moved closer. "Certainly sound a lot like yourself, what with the lame comebacks."

This time, Harry snorted in amusement as Draco settled tentatively on the bed beside his knee. "You would know, what with their being your specialty."

Unthinkingly, Draco shoved at Harry's knee with an answering guffaw and then looked horrified. "Crap. Sorry. I--"

Harry waved it off, though the motions of his hand were a little uncoordinated. " 'M fine. Swear."

"Seriously, Harry," said Draco, as he slumped a little, shoving his own hair back from his forehead. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember..." Harry said as he stared up at the ceiling. "I remember Fluffy; then the Devil's Snare, and the keys... then the chess game..." His eyes widened and this time he succeeded in sitting up. "Weasley-- Ron. Is he alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Draco said dismissively. "Longbottom came straight for Madam Pomfrey after Weasley went down. She said he had a concussion-- healed him on the spot and the git ended up walking out on his own. 'Course, she brought the cavalry, which was, as usual, a day late and a Galleon short."

"...Right," murmured Harry, visibly relaxing again and shifting over to give Draco more room. "Then there were the potions, and then the mirror and after that... Professor Quirrell and the stone, but that bit's all... _fuzzy_. "

"Much like the rest of your head, I suspect," said Draco, offhandedly as he pulled his feet up under himself and crossed them. "Yes well, Granger and I followed you into the room after the little potions game, but Quirrell blocked us off using a wall of fire we couldn't dispel. You somehow ended up with the stone, and from what Granger and I could see through the flames, fought and disintegrated Quirrell. You Know Who went all... disembodied and knocked you down, then we screamed in rather appropriate terror as he swept past us. The flames died down, we rushed in... and then McGonagall, Sprout, Snape, Flitwick and Pomfrey arrived to find your sorry arse passed out and Granger examining the stone and bloody well _taking notes_ amidst a small pile of gold she'd already transmuted from the bits of rubble that she could find."

"...She was _using the stone and taking notes_?" Harry said, incredulous.

"Yeah. Scary one, her. Anyway, they dragged you up here, we all ended up separated and being made to tell the story to see if it all matched up, and given a severe talking-to each. Was waiting for the point deduction, myself, but the professors seem chagrined enough that they missed what was going on under their noses that they might conveniently forget all the rule-breaking." Draco leaned over, snatched a chocolate frog off of the side table and tossed it to Harry. "They let me pitch camp here after classes ended for the term and eat your chocolate. Figure I deserve it." He took one for himself and sat back as he tore into the package. "Everyone else's been by to check on you. Pansy's fingers were a mess from playing the harp for so long, but Pomfrey fixed her up, too. Weasley twins dropped off some candy that I took the liberty of handing off to Diggory and his mates." Draco popped the frog into his mouth, continuing through his mouthful, "Bastard had the audacity to ruffle my hair and tell me I'd 'done a good job'. Pfft!"

Harry snickered as he tore open his own frog. "Excellent. Maybe he'll lay off for a bit."

"One can only hope," murmured Draco, looking down and intently examining his chocolate frog card. "So yeah. Good job, and all."

"...And?" said Harry, picking up on what Draco wasn't saying.

"Got an owl from my father."

"What'd he say?" Harry asked, brow knit.

"All the right things about being proud of my 'involvement in protecting the school's best interests'. Said my 'extracurricular activities' had better not get in the way of my marks. Asked me to pass his greetings on to you," Draco said, still hushed. With a shrug, he added, "None of it sounded quite right... except maybe the bit about my marks. I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. The bloody third years' fault, anyway."

Harry chomped his frog down and reached for another, stopping mid-motion. "Wait - it's been four days? Aren't you supposed to be home for Christmas hols?"

Draco flicked his card at Harry and snaked him for another frog in a transparent attempt at nonchalance. "That was the other thing my father had to say. He _recommended_ I stay here for the hols. For my own safety, of course."

"Oh," said Harry lamely.

"Pah," Draco waved it off. "Don't worry about it. Besides! He had the house elves bring my gifts. Looks like there's one for you, too."

Harry's eyes widened. "There is?!"

"Yeah." Draco's expression had brightened momentarily and then darkened again as he held the hapless confectionary frog up by one foot and dangled it. "Can't judge by the shape either - Mum always makes them wrap her gifts up in Shapeshift Paper."

"Well, you know _I_ wasn't going anywhere," offered Harry. "At least we can--"

Both boys looked up as Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room. "Good heavens! Mister Potter, good morning, nice to see you awake! Mister Malfoy, you should have come to get me immediately." She walked right up to Harry and began prodding him carefully with her wand as she swatted Draco's knee. "Going to fetch the Headmaster will be a suitable enough punishment for interfering with my patients. Off with you."

###

On the last day of Christmas hols, the only reason that Harry and Draco had any idea that the other students were returning was by virtue of the fact that they'd seen the carriages on the road from Hogsmeade... from about seventy five feet off of the ground on a pair of brand new Nimbus 2000 racing brooms.

This was no surprise, given that they hadn't done much else with every spare moment of daylight since they'd opened the packages from Draco's parents on Christmas morning. There had been more for Draco, of course, but those had been set aside for the time being in favor of the brooms, and quite a bit of what time was left over making use of Harry's other surprise gift. Though, as Draco pointed out, Harry's father's Invisibility Cloak would have been nice to have first term, it was still highly entertaining.

In a complicated two-part swoop, they landed near where the carriages were dropping students off and ran up to a waving Pansy.

"Hi!" said Draco brightly as she hugged him hard. "We got brooms. What'd you get?"

Harry stood shocked as Pansy released Draco and hugged him, too. "Clothes, oh. Divine things from Paris. And a couple of first editions that mum said are the start of a proper Ravenclaw library. And Ron's mum sent me a box of chocolate biscuits! Imagine?" She pulled away and straightened her skirt, adding conspiratorially, "I had to hide them from my mother. You know how that is."

"Oh yeah. I got shortbread, but Potter got chocolate cake." Draco pointed. "And we didn't have to share with anyone else _or_ hide it."

"Why'd you have to hide it?" Asked Harry, nonplussed.

"Weasley," Draco and Pansy said simultaneously, as though that was a satisfactory explanation.

"What?" said Ron as he trotted up with a cautious nod for both Harry and Draco. "Hi."

"We're talking about the sweets your mum sent," offered Pansy. "They were delicious."

"Oh yeah, those," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "She got your thank you notes and about lost her mind over the fact that you liked them and 'took the time to write back, such thoughtful children'." The last bit was delivered in a soft falsetto through half-rolled eyes, and they all snickered again.

"Your mum didn't seem all that shrill when I met her," said Harry, bemused.

"Just give her a few hours," smiled Ron. "She gets there, trust me."

"Hello," said Hermione in a very prim voice from where she and Neville had come up behind Harry. "Did everyone have a good holiday?"  
  
There was a small chorus of 'brilliant', 'excellent', 'fantastic' and 'alright' and she nodded as though she'd ticked an item off of a mental to-do list. "Mine as well. I see there was some sort of happening with the house points?"

Draco cracked a lazy grin. "Oh, yeah. Seems the Headmaster decided the six of us deserved fifty points a piece for possession of various noble-sounding qualities, once Potter here regained consciousness. He even gave the reprobate twins fifteen each, for 'innovative thinking', so not even Gryffindor was left out."

Neville grinned and looked down. "I'd heard. Gran's got... odd connections to the school."

"Excellent," Hermione beamed. She then took a small stack of parchment from her bag and handed them around. "This is my revision schedule through the next month. If any of you would like to study with me, you're more than welcome. There's a key at the bottom that explains the color coding of the locations and times."

Save for Neville, who'd seen it on the train, they all stared and blinked at the meticulous chart, regimented down to fifteen-minute blocks and worked around her classes and meals.

"You're a little scary, you know," muttered Ron in a very smug Hermione's direction. "Brilliant. But scary."

Hermione actually blushed. "I hear you're not so bad yourself."

"Oh, hell. We've got to go," mumbled Harry as he looked up from the dizzying schedule and caught sight of Cedric headed in their direction. Stuffing it in his pocket, he grabbed at the sleeve of Draco's jumper and took a step back. "We'll be there, though."

"Wh-" frowned Draco before he looked up, eyes widening as he followed Harry's line of sight. "Oh. Yeah, uh huh. See you later."

By the time Cedric was within ten meters of where they had been standing, Harry and Draco were astride their brooms and racing out to the pitch at top speed, climbing high only to dive wildly down until they were obscured by the tree line.

Pansy arched an eyebrow at Hermione. "What exactly is that about, anyway?"

###

Cedric watched them take off with a frustrated swear.

"Language, Mister Diggory," chided Professor Sprout gently as she came up to set a hand on his shoulder, already far above hers.

"I swear, they avoid me like the bloo-- err. Plague," Cedric said distractedly, shaking his head and pointing after them. "You know, that's some serious flying-- did you see the double-barrelled spiral the two of them pulled when they landed? That was bl-- brilliant."

Professor Sprout nodded, her face lit with enthusiasm. "Oh aye, I certainly did. They'll make a fine addition to the house team next year. I daresay with you Seeking and them Chasing, we might be able to give those Gryffindor and Slytherin louts a run for their money for the first time in years." She added dreamily under her breath, "And let me tell you, the satisfaction in finally laying a Quidditch wager with Severus and Minerva that I might actually win will be sweet indeed."

Anyone who didn't know her might think she hadn't realized she'd said it out loud, but Cedric knew better. He grinned, "Does that mean I have permission to invite them to practice with us for the rest of the season?"

"My boy, I came over to suggest the very thing," said Professor Sprout with a answering grin. "And right now, Dumbledore won't deny Potter a single thing, first year or not."

"Right now?" muttered Cedric, affecting more nonchalance over the situation than he might be harboring.  
  
With a squeeze to his shoulder, Professor Sprout said gently, "Don't begrudge it, Mister Diggory. Celebrity is not all it may seem." The small, round Professor suddenly clapped her hands as her face split with glee again. "Now go on and catch them! We've got more stars to train up for Hufflepuff!"  
  
Cedric nodded, honestly trying to take her advice to heart as he ran back to the castle to get his own broom, fists in the air and shouting, "For Hufflepuff!"  
  
Professor Sprout cheered along as he ran off, trailing off as she caught sight of Severus and Minerva, heads together and glaring in her general direction with their usual disdain at her effusive tendencies. She offered up a wave and a small smile just to spite them, adjusted her hat, and marched off into the milling students, intent on greeting and herding them in the general direction of the castle.

"Welcome back, children! Let's get inside for dinner, shall we?"

 

\---end


End file.
